National Republican., 1887-12-12
PREPARE FOR ETERNITY.
RLv. DIR. TALMAGE's REGULAR SUNDAY
DISCOURSE.
The world Thinks Too Much Of Things
Earthly to tho Detriment OF Their
Chances for Eternal Salvation.

lie VIII 1nlmhgc, DDs pttuchou NJ thV ihVSi-
nacle, this city, on "Too Much Ado About
ema,i Things" His text was: "Ye blind
guides, which strain at gnat: and swallow n
camel."-Matthew, kill "a. The eloquent
preacher faid; ,.. .. ..... %.
proverb is compact wisdom, knowledge In
chunks, library In q sentence, the electricity
of many clouds discharged In one bolt, river
put through mill race. When Christ quotes
the proverb Of the text, he means 10 set forth
the ludicrous behavior of those who mako
great bluster about small sins and have no ap-
preciation Of great ones.
In my text small insect and large quad
ruped are brought into comparisons goat
and camel. You have In museums or on the
desert seen the latter, q great awkward,
sprswling creature. with back two stories high,
and stomach having collection Of reservoirs
for desert travel, an animal forbidden to the
Jews as food, and in many literatures entitled
.the ship Of the desert" The gnat spoken Of
pool or pond, after n few weeks becomes
hrysalis, and then after few days becomes
the ,gnat as we recognize II; But the insect
shape, and yet 1t inhabtst tho water-for my text
gnat."
tencies.' A man, after long observation. has
formed the suspicion that In a cup of water he
is about to drink there Ii a grub or the grand
parent of gnat He goes and gets Sieve or
through the sieve in the broad light. He says,
81 would rather do anything almost than
drink this water until this larva be extir-
pated." This water is brought under inqulsi.
lion. The experiment Is successful. The
water rushes through the sieve. and leaves
f'R en. The Then eide the S @G 'ssS esPea hf GRUB
moves the Insect, and drinks the water
In placldlty. But going out one day;
the camel, which the Jews were forbidden TO
eat, The Rastronomer has no compunctions of
conscience. He suffers from no indigestion.
foot, and his upper jaw over the hump OF the
cameps back. and gives one swallow. and the
dromedary disappears forever, He strained
out n gnat: he swallowed u camel.
While Christs audience were yet smiling at
the apposteness and wit of His Illustration
for smile they did in church, unless they were
practcaly said 10 them THAT Is you." Punc
tilious about small things; reckless about
affairs OF great magnitude. No subject ever
withered under surgeons knife more bitterly
than did the Pharisees under Christs scalpel
eftruth. AS an anatomist will take human
body TO pieces and put them under micro
scope for examination, so Christ finds his way
TO the heart of the dead Pharsee and cuts It
out and puts 1t under the glass of inspection for
all generations to examine. Those Pharisees
compliment them, and how they must have
writhed under the red hot words az He said;
'ie FOOLS, ye whited sepulchers ,ye blind
guides, which strain out gnat and swallow
There are in our day great many gna.s
strained out and a great many camels swal-
lowed, and II is the object OF this sermon to
sketch a few persons who are extensively en-
gnged in that business.
First. l remark, that all those ministers of
the Gospel are photographed in the text who
ties Of religion, but put no particular stress
upon matters OF vast Importance. Church
1uEn ar % rsos
tion. But there are illustrations and there are
hyperboles like that of Christ in the text that
tory. There are men like those blind guides
Of the text who advocate only those things in
religious service which draw the corners Of
which have a tendency 70 draw the corners or
the mouth up, and these men will 20 to in.
stallations and to presbyteries and to confer.
enees and 70 associations, their pockets full Of
their own churches at home every Sunday
there are ffiy people sound asleep. They
rue their churches great dormitory, and
-, W wakefni soul in pew
it is worse to sleep in Church than to smile ii,
church, for the latter implies at least attention,
the Implies The
in old age, or from physical iafrmity, or from
long wafching with the sick. drowsiness Will
sometimes overpower one; hut when minis
ana finds healthy and intelligentpeople strug-
Cling with drowsiness, 1t is time for him TO
give ont the doxology, or pronounce the bene-
to-day is not too much vlyacity, but too much
tomnolence. The one Is an irritating gnat
that may be easily strained out; the other is a
great, sprawling, sleepy-eyed camel OF the dry
desert. In oil our Sabbath schools, In all our
Bible classes, In all our pulpits we need To
brighten up our religious message with such
Christllke rivacity as we find In the text.
take down from my library the biographies
and uninspircd, who have done. the most to
without single exception, they oonsecrated
their wit and humor 10 Christ. Elijah used II
when he advised the Baalites,. as they could
call louder, as their god might be sound asleep
or gone hunting. Job used II when he said
TO- his self-conceited comforters, wisdom
the text, but when be ironically complimented
the .putreted Pharisees, saying "rhe whole
need not a physician" aud when by one word
Go se.d ye, and tell III that ioa Matthew HeSrys H
commentaries from the first page to the last
coIruscated with humor as summer clouds
ings are as full OF humor as they are Of saving
TRUTH and there is not an aged man here who
has ever read Pilgrims Progress who does
as oi;en as he s"' wept ch1ysostom, SeoTse
Herbert, Robert South, John Wesley George
Whitefeld, Jeremy Taylor, Rowland Hill. Net.
The past who greatly advanced a the I Kingdom S N
Of God consecrated their wit and their humor
TO the cause Of Christ. So It has been In all
students who cluster in these Services Sab.
bath by Sabbath, sharpen your wits as keen as
scimiters, and then take them into this holy
war.
1t is a very short bridge between a smile and
a tear, a suspension bridge from eye to lip, and
y is soon crossed over, and a smile Is some
times just as sacred as a tear There is as much
morning than In a starless midnight. Reig-
ious work without any humOr or wilt In 1t Is a
6en9oetd Eh s'de q m oee and that raw and
People will not sit down at such banquet,
BY all means remove all frlyolity and all bathos
ont se seTe Of hey
but, on the other hand, beware OF that monster
which oversbadows the Christian Church to.
S%ng np from the
on its back hump OF sanctimonious gloom,
and vehemently reflse TO swallow that camel
Oh, how particular a great many people are
about the infnitesmals while they are quite
reckless about the magnitudes. What did
Christ say? Did he not excorlste the people in
His time who were SO careful to wash their
hearts2 II Is n bad thing to have unclean
hands; II is n worse thing TO have an uncleap
heart How many people there are IN our
death they shall be buried with their feet to
ward the east, and not at all anxious that dur
ing their whole life they should face In the
light direction so that they shall come up in
the resurrection of the just which ever way
they are buried. How many there are chiefly
anxious hat a minister Of the Gospel shall
come In the line of apostolic succession, not
coring so much whether he comes from
Apostle Paul or Apostle Judas They have a
camel. ="
Again Ny subject nbo,o,rsnbs all tboso
who are abhorent Of small sins while they
are reckless in regard TO magnificent thefts,
You VIII ma many merchant who while he
Is 30 caTeful that he would not take n ward al
cloth or spool of cotton from the cnunIar 80 MI H